Sibling Solidarity
by Rose Midnight Moonlight Black
Summary: When Damian upsets Terry, Helena Kyle decides to 'inform' her older brother about silbing solidarity and brotherhood - and the dangers of woman's wraths.  Non slash - poor Damian, why is siblinghood so difficult?


DISCLIAMER; you know the drill, I own nothing.

This involved the lethal Miss Helena Kyle Wayne and the Fatal Mister Damian Al Ghul Wayne. Enjoy

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Sibling Solidarity

Damian...never claimed to be an expert on families, or even just typical sibling relationships. He was an expert on many, many things – how to kill a person from thirty paces away, knock someone unconscious with your bare hands, how to hunt a single villain through the slums of Brazil or track down an insignificant child in a child trafficking ring.

Interactions between brothers and sisters, even strange ones...aren't one of his specialties.

Now if he could only explain that to the furious feline in front of him.

"You. Upset. Terry." Three words are hissed – or spat – into his face and the hand – claw – around his throat tightens. There are no less than six ways he could break this hold without hurting her. There's only one he can think of that will ensure _he'll_ not end up hurt. For a woman adamant on her lack of cape or cowl, Helena Kyle Wayne was certainly no shabby hand at beating people up. Even her bat trained ex- league assassin older brother.

Especially her bat trained ex-league assassin older brother.

"I...was merely making a point."

Slit eyes narrowed and-for the love of God-Damian wished that Selena had been more able to keep track of her little kitten. Dabbing in Splicing was never good or pretty - dabbling in meta-linked splicing with unstable chemical while still under the biological age restriction...well that was plain suicide. No wonder Helena killed them for it.

"You were needlessly cruel! He's a child!" His air supply was starting to run a little low and the cold case he was pinned to wasn't exactly comfortable.

"He's hardly a child. He's Batman-"

"-And child! That only makes what you said worse!" Why wasn't Helena's arm tired? He wasn't exactly light... and emotion enhanced strength wasn't very reliable. Damn, she was mad – why was she so mad?

"He's too soft. Even you understand that; too forgiving – it will get him killed one day. If he can't stand constructive criticism without running to you, then I won't train him."

Wrong. The claw cuts across not just his air lines but into the skin. He winces, a small tail of blood running down his neck. Helena snarls louder through her genetically altered fangs – actually she's less of a Cat-woman and more of a jaguar really. Especially when she's pissed off. A singular rarity on its own, because she's always mad and never pissed.

"You. Will. Not. Abandon. Him. Damian – I would have thought you'd understand." Her eyes, solid black stones are suddenly flecked with a pale blue. Damian wondered if the anger fuelled adrenalin is starting to wear off, but the eyes, they look sad.

"Understand?" The hand loosens, enough for him to breathe but Helena looks more disappointed that furious now.

"He needs you. Almost as much as he needs Dad. More that he needs Red certainly. He needs _Damian._ His _brother_ – like you did once."

Damian doesn't struggle but damn, Helena's bringing up memories he thought he'd buried a long time ago. She's bringing up things she had no right to even know of. He had a brother once, more because someone had to take him than because anyone wanted to, but he had one. He lost one too.

"This is different. He has Father – I didn't." He never had Bruce. Even when the man had been alive and he had lived with him. Even after the man returned and took over his training from D-Grayson. He never had his father – not like the others did. Certainly not like Terry did now. "He has Father. He's his favorite after all."

"This isn't about favoritism! –and Terry isn't Dad's favorite! Dad is indifferent to us all the same." Now she's exasperated, rolling her eyes and giving off the same body language she does when she's talking to Matthew about something particularly mature – or immature – or when she's trying to relate a martial arts fact that Terry had trouble grasping. He doesn't like it. But her hands are still around his throat, pinning in the air and angry or not, Damian still refuses to fight her.

He only had to make the mistake to fight an angry female fighter once to know the futility of it.

Helena sighs, "If we left Terry with just Dad, he'll either end up dead or completely empty inside. Batman will smother him."

"I still don't see what I can do for him. Teach him to fight – that, as difficult as it may appear, I can do – but I don't understand what you want, Helena." Calling her 'Kyle' he knew would only make her hit him harder and with more ease– Brown was never this difficult.

Her now blue eyes glinted, "Guide him." Simple words delivered with a simple expression. Damian was flabbergasted.

"What? How? Why me? Surly father can-" Helena set him down on his feet, holding him firm in place with a hand and well placed glare.

"Father can't. I can't. I don't know what it's like to be a vigilante or a hero or even a villain. I know what it's like to be different but I'm not one of them, a bat. I'm not like Terry." Her eyes are still sad, like she's upset that her own lacking may adversely affect her beloved little brother – but Helena always seemed to want to distance herself from Terry! Females were so confusing.

"I can't help him. I can only sympathize and that's not enough, but you, Damian, you can. You know what Dad's like, what Gotham's like, what the cape feels like – you can help him."

Simple words – but Damian grew more and more alarmed with every impassionate word. He doesn't know a thing about normal teenagers; he doesn't really know a lot about Terry – now Helena wanted him to make sure the kid didn't go under with all the stress? He isn't sure that's possible, he isn't sure he could stop himself from going under.

"I can't do that!" Damian wouldn't admit to panicking but ... "I don't know a thing about teenagers!"

Helena slapped him, lightly, over the head. "Listen to me," she scolded, "I said help Terry with Batman – leave the teenage part to me...just...be a brother, – a friend, sympathize – listen to him." She added in seeing her brother's confused face. She released his throat as the last bit of her transformation faded away - fangs gone, slit eyes vanished and only a whisper of marking on her face.

"You can't leave him Damian. He might be Batman but he's only seventeen. Grayson, Drake – they're not going to help and he needs us. He needs a family – they both do." Helena's eyes has that stubborn look – the one he saw in his father when his word is final, the one he sees in Terry's eyes when the teenage knight is sure he's right or is refusing to budge on a course of action. It's the look he hoped was in his eyes when he told his father he was staying, that he was going to train Terry. It was impossible-to-kill will-force that had defeat many a super villain before they had even started.

Damian surrendered.

"I'm not leaving, but I can't change who I am. If he won't keep up with training, he'll fall behind."

Helena rolled her blue eyes, "Then change the direction you're going. Improvise. This isn't about training – take him out for a pizza, rewire the Batwing, I don't know – do whatever male bats do to bond, you know..."

"Beat people up?" He raised an eyebrow, a twitch of amusement on his lips.

"That works too – just _something_. Don't criticize him, Dad does that enough already. Terry's insecure; we all are, especially about Dad. Don't push him further down than he already is, Damian."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair absently. He didn't realize this was a habit he had already picked up from his younger brother. "I'll try. I won't _promise_, but I'll try."

Helena smiled – a rather pointy, fangless smile, but he got the point. She punches him on the arm, "Knew you'd get the point eventually. It's all about sibling solidarity."

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What do you think of them? Nice or OC?


End file.
